Single occupant seesaws



y 6, 1970 .1. LIEBERMAN 3,514,103

SINGLE OCCUPAN'I SEESAWS Filed Feb. 17, 1967 Z Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR-JERRY LIE BERMAN y 1970 J. LIEBERMAN 3,514,103

SINGLE occumm SEESAWS Filed Feb. 1'7, 196? 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR=JERRY LIEBERMAN I Bwdg g.

United States Patent Office 3,514,103 Patented May 26, 1970 3,514,103SINGLE OCCUPANT SEESAWS Jerry Lieberman, 1364 Lexington Ave., New York,N.Y. 10028 Filed Feb. 17, 1967, Ser. No. 616,846 Int. Cl. A63g 11/00 US.Cl. 272-55 10 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A seesaw for use by asingle occupant seated on the outer end portion of a resilientlyflexible rod, the inner end portion of which is anchored in a support.The rod is inclined in the direction of the occupant and its resilientflexibility permits controlled oscillation in a vertical plane. Aresiliently yieldable fulcrum is provided intermediate the ends of therod and the support and the fulcrum are adjustable so that the angle ofinclination of the rod may be varied.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in playgroundequipment, and in particular the invention concerns itself with a seesawwhich is adapted for use by a single occupant, as distinguished from adouble'ended seesaw wherein two occupants are disposed at opposite sidesof an intermediate fulcrum.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a single occupantseesaw which is very simple but durable in construction and which lendsitself to convenient and economical manufacture, so that it may bereadily placed at the disposal of children in homes, playgrounds, andthe like. As such, the seesaw consists essentially of a single,resiliently flexible rod, preferably made of glass fibers bondedtogether by resin, one end portion of the rod being anchored in asupport while its other end portion carries the occupants seat. The rodis inclined in the direction of the occupant and its resilientflexibility permits a controlled oscillation in a vertical plane.

An important feature of the invention resides in the provision of meansfor varying the angle of inclination of the rod and, consequently, theheight of the occupants seat above the ground or floor when the seesawis at rest, so that the device may be easily adjusted to accommodatechildren of different ages.

With the foregoing more important object and feature in view and suchother objects and features as may become apparent as this specificationproceeds, the invention will be understood from the followingdescription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, whereinlike characters of reference are used to designate like parts, andwherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view showing one embodiment of a singleoccupant seesaw in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view thereof;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary sectional view, taken substantiallyin the plane of the line 3-3 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a view, similar to that in FIG. 3, but showing a modifiedarrangement;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the fulcrum used in the embodiment ofFIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view. taken substantially in theplane of the line 66 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a view, partly in side elevation and partly in section,showing a modified embodiment of the fulcrum;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary view taken in the direction of the arrow SinFIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary side elevational view of another modifiedembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view, taken substantially in the plane ofthe line 1010 in FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a fragmentary side elevational view of another modifiedembodiment; and

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view, taken substantially in the plane ofthe line 12--12 in FIG. 11.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings in detail, attention is firstdirected to FIGS. 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6 which illustrate one embodiment ofthe single occupant seesaw in accordance with the invention. The same isdesignated generally by the reference numeral 21 and comprises a support22 for an inclined, resiliently flexible rod 23 which extends outwardlyand upwardly from the support and is provided on its outer end portionwith an occupants seat 24.

The support 22 consists of a base 25 which is suitably anchored to theground or floor 26, and a tubular socket 27 which is connected to thebase 25 by a horizontal pivot pin 28 for movement of the socket in avertical plane. The axis of the socket 27 is inclined and the lower orinner end portion of the rod 23 is secured in the socket, as by anadhesive, press-fitting, or any other suitable means. The rod 23, asalready stated, is resiliently flexible and is preferably formed fromlongitudinally extending glass fibers bonded together by a resin, as ina material commercially known as Fiberglas. The seat 24 may be made ofthe same material, and while in the drawings the seat is shown as beingcylindrical with the outer end portion of the rod 23 extending axiallythereinto, it is to be understood that the seat may be of any desiredshape.

A fulcrum 29 is provided to engage the intermediate portion of the rod23 at a point adjacent but spaced from the socket 27. The fulcrumconsists of a block of material which preferably possesses a certainamount of resilient yieldability, such as hard rubber, or the like, theblock having a ground or floor engaging base portion 30 and a roundedupper portion 31 on which the rod 23 may rest. To prevent longitudinaland lateral displacement of the fulcrum block, a horizontal bar 32 maybe extended through the base portion 30* with downturned pointedextremities 33 of the bar penetrating into the ground or grippinglyengaging the floor, as the case may be.

It will be apparent that when an occupant takes his or her position onthe seat 24, the resilient flexibility of the rod 23 will permit the rodto oscillate in a vertical plane, outwardly from the point where the rodis engaged by the fulcrum 29, thus providing the desired seesaw actionfor the single occupant. Since the fulcrum 29 may be manually movedcloser to or further away from the support 22, the point of contact ofthe fulcrum with the rod 23 may be longitudinally adjusted, so thatcontrol is obtained over the degree of resiliency of the rod and itsfrequency and amplitude of oscillation, under a given weight and rockingeffort of the occupant. It will be also noted that by manually movingthe fulcrum 29 toward or away from the support '22, the angle ofinclination of the rod 23 may be respectively increased or decreased,thus correspondingly raising or lowering the height of the seat 24 abovethe ground or floor 26 so that the seesaw may readily accommodatechildren of different sizes. Of course, as the angle of inclination ofthe rod 23 is changed, the rod socket 27 automatically adjusts itself byvirtue of its pivotal connection 28 to the fixed base 25 of the support22. This pivotal connection also permits the socket to move slightlydownwardly and upwardly as the oscillations of the rod 23 cause theresiliently yieldable fulcrum block to be alternately compressed andexpanded.

As already indicated, the manual adjustment of the fulcrum 29 toward oraway fromthe support 22 may be made either for the purpose ofoscillation control or for the purpose of changing the seat height, butin either event the two purposes are more-or-less inter-relatedin thatan adjustment to lower the seat for a small child inherently produces adesired decrease in the amplitude of oscillation, since the fulcrum hasto be moved further away from the support. Conversely, by moving thefulcrum closer to the support so as to raise the seat height for alarger child, a greater amplitude of oscillation is inherentlypermitted.

FIG. 4 shows a slight modification wherein the inner or lower endportion of the rod 23 is mounted in the socket 27 by means of a pair ofresilient bushings 34 of rubber, or the like, rather than directly inthe bore of the socket as in FIG. 3.

FIGS. 7 and 8 illustrate a modified fulcrum 35 which may be used inplace of the fulcrum 29. The fulcrum 35 comprises a bracket 36positionable on the ground or floor, and provided in its upper portionwith an opening 37 in which is mounted a tubular sleeve 38 of resilientmaterial such as rubber, or the like. The rod 23 extends through and isfrictionally engaged by the sleeve 38, whereby the fulcrum may remain ina selected position along the length of the rod 23 without necessarilysecuring the bracket 36 to the ground or floor. However, the fulcrum 35may be slid along the rod 23 as indicated at 39 for purposes of eitheror both, oscillation control and seat height adjustment, as alreadydescribed in connection with the fulcrum 29. The resilient sleeve 38 issufficiently yieldable to accommodate changes in the angle ofinclination of the rod 23 as the fulcrum is moved toward or away fromthe rod support.

FIGS. 9 and show another modified embodiment of the fulcrum, which inthis instance comprises a ring or annulus 40 bonded or otherwise securedas at 41 to the underside of the rod 23, with the axis of the ringextending transversely of the rod axis. The ring 40 is resilientlyyieldable and may conveniently be made of Fiberglas material. In anyevent, while serving in the manner of a fulcrum, the resilientyieldability of the ring 40 permits it to become alternately compressedand expanded to a greater degree than the aforementioned fulcrum 29 ofsolid, hard rubber, or the aforementioned rubber sleeve 38. Thus, whilethe oscillation takes place mostly in the outer portion of the rod 23beyond the ring 40, some oscillation also occurs at the inner portion ofthe rod inwardly of the ring and at the socket 27 which moves about thepivot pin 28.

FIGS. 11 and 12 show another type of fulcrum 48 for the rod 23, whichmay be used in conjunction with the support 22. Here the fulcrum 48comprises a resilient sleeve 49 which encircles the rod 23 in the mannerof the aforementioned sleeve 38, the sleeve 49 being held in an eye 50having a screw 51 secured thereto. The screw 51 constitutes a componentof a turnbuckle unit which also includes a turnbuckle member 52 and asecond screw 53 of opposite hand relative to the screw '51, the screw 53being fixed to a base 54. Thus, when the member 52 is turned, theturnbuckle unit is either extended or retracted to correspondinglyincrease or decrease the angle of inclination of the rod 23. Here again,the sleeve 49 frictionally engages the rod 23, but the fulcrum may bemanually slid along the rod toward or away from the support 22 forpurposes of oscillation control, although in this embodiment the seatheight adjustment may be made merely by the turnbuckle unit. As will benoted, radially projecting pins 55 are provided on the turnbuckle member52 to facilitate turning the same.

While in the foregoing there have been described and 4 shown thepreferred embodiments of the invention, various modifications may becomeapparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention relates.Accordingly, it is not desired to limit the invention to thisdisclosure.

What is claimed as new is:

1. A single occupant seesaw comprising in combination, a base resting ona supporting surface, a horizontal pivot on said base, a tubular memberhaving one end thereof mounted on said pivot for movement of the tubularmember in a vertical plane, said tubular member defining a cylindricalsocket, a resiliently flexible cylindrical rod having one end portionthereof secured in said socket and projecting outwardly and upwardlytherefrom, an

' occupants seat carried by the outer end portion of said rod, and afulcrum resting on the supporting surface at a point spaced from saidbase, said fulcrum engaging an intermediate portion of said rod at apoint between said socket and said seat, and the resiliency of said rodbeing such as to permit substantial vertical oscillation of theseat-carrying rod portion outwardly beyond said fulcrum.

2. The device as defined in claim 1 together with means carried by saidfulcrum for anchoring the same to the supporting surface.

3. The device as defined in claim 1 wherein said fulcrum comprises asolid block of elastomeric material engaging the underside of said rod.

4. The device as defined in claim 1 wherein said fulcrum comprises aresiliently deformable annular member disposed in a vertical plane andengaging the underside of said rod.

5. The device as defined in claim 1 wherein said fulcrum comprises abracket formed with an aperture, and a tubular sleeve of elastomericmaterial mounted in the aperture of said bracket, said rod extendingthrough said sleeve.

6. The device as defined in claim 1 wherein said fulcrum comprises abase plate having a screw thereon, an eye encircling said rod andprovided with a second screw in axial alignment with the screw on thebase plate, and a turnbuckle operatively connecting said screws togetherto effect vertical adjustment of said eye relative to the base plate.

7. The device as defined in claim 1 wherein said rod is progressivelysmaller in cross-section from said support socket toward said seat.

8. The device as defined in claim 1 wherein said fulcrum is resilientlyyieldable.

9. The device as defined in claim 1 wherein said fulcrum is adjustableon the supporting surface longitudinally of said rod toward and awayfrom said socket.

10. The device as defined in claim 1 wherein said fulcrum is adjustableupwardly and downwardly.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,608,821 11/1926 Sherrod 272521,807,938 6/1931 Shoemaker 27252 1,890,699 12/1932 Shoemaker 27252 X2,129,176 9/1938 Holman 272-1 2,440,172 4/ 1948 Gibbons 272-52 2,638,3455/1953 Norvell 27233 2,688,483 9/1954 Mugler 27252 X 2,726,085 12/1955Brand 272.--30 3,204,953 1952 Ahrens 27252 3,246,893 1965 Boggild et a1.27265 X ANTON O. OECHSLE, Primary Examiner A. W. KRAMER, AssistantExaminer

